Yuletide Fairytales
by symphonypearls
Summary: It was hard to believe it had been five years since his last proper Christmas had been celebrated with his team. His former team. His best friends. - Emily surprises her red ranger on Christmas Eve. - Samurai - JaydenEmily


**disclaimer:** i don't own power rangers.

**notes:** well, it's been a while, huh? the jayden/emily archive has certainly expanded since i was last here! i hope everyone's enjoying megaforce, but here's a quick christmas-time jayden/emily ficlet as a gift to all my old reviewers, friends, and jemily shippers!

this is set five years after the end of samurai.

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Christmas Eve found Jayden sitting on the beach just outside Panorama City, watching the light snowfall across the sand and the sea as the night grew darker and heavier with stars and dusk. He'd set his gift for Jii under their Christmas tree and called Lauren before she'd gone to sleep, so there was nothing left for him to do back at the mansion. All he had was the sky, the sea, and the memories of several Christmases ago, when he'd been with his friends.

Jayden drew a rock from the sand and aimlessly skipped it out into the ocean, watching as it splashed lightly into the waves. It was hard to believe it had been five years since his last proper Christmas had been celebrated with his team. His former team. His best friends.

Even though he knew they were still his best friends, everything felt a lot different now. They'd been away from five years, and he knew had things had changed between their defeat of Xandred and this year's Christmas. Everyone was off living their own lives, and it wasn't that he didn't enjoy his own life, helping to train new young Samurai for the next evil to arrive alongside Jii and, when she visited, Lauren, but he couldn't help missing the people he'd saved the world with.

But Mia was off touring the world as part of her cooking school curriculum, trying new cuisines and meeting new people. Kevin had made it to the Pan-Global Games level of professional swimming and was enjoying life as a bona fide swimming celebrity. Antonio was off fishing somewhere – it was a different place every time he called home or sent a letter, but Jayden knew he was enjoying himself wherever he was. And Mike had gotten himself a job near the town Emily had grown up in, as a martial arts teacher for kids.

And Emily – Jayden threw another rock into the ocean at the memory of his bright-eyed, warm-hearted Yellow teammate. She was the one he'd heard the least from in the past few years, her enthusiastic letters becoming far and few between every year. She'd sent him a Christmas card a few days earlier, and that was it. He didn't even know if she was still with Mike or not – Mike never mentioned it one way or the other. And Jayden missed knowing what was going on in his friends' life more than anything.

Christmas was especially hard – he never missed them as much as he did during the season of love, when everyone had family and friends around him, except for him. There were times when he dreamed of having them around, or imagined hearing their voices or –

"Penny for your thoughts?"

The words were uttered lightly, the accent soft, feminine, and startlingly familiar. Jayden jumped and whirled around, hardly daring to believe what he saw before him. Emily stood there, a smile on her face and her hair in all-too-familiar curls, bundled up in a yellow coat that reminded him forcibly of the days when she'd worn that color by his side in battle.

"Emily," he breathed, and suddenly, she was in his arms. "You're – you're here. Why are you here? What are you _doing_ here?"

She giggled into his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her, welcoming the warmth of her body. "Good to see you, too," she teased, looking up at him and managing to elicit a smile from him. "I thought I'd come see you for Christmas. Jii told me you were out here."

"Yes, but – " Jayden stared down at her, utterly amazed that she was actually here, and real, and not a figment of his imagination. "Why are you here? I thought – I thought you would be at your farm. You haven't visited in years, Em."

Her smile faded at his words and she sighed, stepping out of his arms. The sudden removal of her heat, her brightness, was like a jolt to his system. "I know," she said, frowning down at the ground below them. "It's – it's been a while, and I – I'm sorry. Things happened. Things _changed_. I didn't want to – I didn't want to remind myself of our time together by visiting. I'm sorry."

"Emily," Jayden murmured, sliding his hands down her arms and holding her still before she could try to walk away. "I'm not mad. I'm happy to see you, God, I don't think I've been happier since – I don't know. Probably since Antonio visited last summer."

She smiled at that. "How is Antonio doing? I haven't heard from him in a while."

"He's good – he's great," Jayden said, guiding her down to sit on the sand alongside him. "But Em – what happened with you? Is everything ok? Is Mike – "

"Everything's fine," she interrupted, her hands disappearing inside her coat pockets. From where he was, Jayden could tell she was clenching them. "Mike is fine. Great. He's happy. He's – you know, he's teaching, and stuff. He has a girlfriend."

Jayden blinked. "He has a – what?"

Emily didn't look at him. "He has a girlfriend. She's pretty, she – her name is Julie. She teaches aerobics at his school. She's nice. Smart. Good for him."

"What happened with you and him?" Jayden asked softly.

"Nothing," Emily shrugged. "I mean, he moved out four years ago. We – we're still in touch. We kept in touch, we saw each other everyday for a year or so, and then – like I said, things changed. They kept changing. He was working, I was busy, everything was different. I'm – don't worry about me, Jayden. I'm happy for him. I came to see you."

"Why?" The question leaves his mouth before he can stop it. "I mean – why me? You could have visited any of the others – "

"No," Emily interrupted, shaking her head, a small smile playing on her lips. "No, I couldn't. I wanted to visit you. I thought – well, I talked to Lauren the other day. Thought you could use some Christmas cheer."

Jayden chuckled. "Well, maybe, but I – " He cut himself off as Emily pulled a small box from inside her pocket, wrapped in red paper and tied off with a yellow bow, and handed it to him. "Em, you didn't have to," he sighed, gingerly accepting the gift.

"Of course I did," she laughed, nudging him with her shoulder as she watched him unwrap the box. "Like I said – Christmas cheer. We all need some."

Inside the box was a tiny glass replica of his Samurai sword, glinting under the moonlight when he pulled it out. The hilt was colored red and gold, a perfect match for the real thing. Jayden's eyes were wide when he looked back up at Emily.

"How did you – " he began in amazement, and she laughed, waving off his questions. "Em, I love it," he grinned, gently placing it in his hand. "It's beautiful."

"Glad you like it," Emily smiled up at him. "I thought you could use something to remind you of – well, of everything. Of us, and being a Ranger, and – "

She broke off mid-sentence when Jayden curled his fingers around her present and leaned down to kiss her. Part of it was thanks, but most of it was – well, most of it was Emily, and how pretty she looked in the starlight and how sweet she still was, even five years later, and how she came back to him, how she still cared about him, and how much he still cared about her. Five years, and here they were, back on Panorama City's beaches, like it was something out of a fairytale.

"What was that for?" she breathed when he parted, his forehead resting against hers. "Jayden, I – "

"I missed you," he said simply. "I missed you a lot."

And he had, because Emily, with her sunshine and her light and the way she could make him smile no matter what, was impossible not to miss. But he never wanted to miss her again, so when she smiled at him, he kissed her again, taking her back in his arms like she had always been there. Maybe she always had.

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**notes:** if you read this far, please review and let me know what you thought! i'd really appreciate it! i definitely want to write more pr fic again - not necessarily just jemily, but all my other old favorite pairings as well, so hopefully you guys still like my stuff :)

and **DON'T** favorite without reviewing, please and thank you!


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